There are many reasons organizations start using managed file transfer (MFT) solutions, but one of the most impactful is consolidation. MFT solutions are a great way to achieve and maintain data regulation compliance, automate new and ongoing file transfers, and gain greater insight into data movement and user access.
Discover what makes MFT one of the premier ways to consolidate your everyday business processes in one centralized tool.
1. Reduce the Number of Tools You’re Using
File transfers can take multiple forms based on the tools you’re using: file reception, file sending, and file scheduling or automation. And if your various trading partners each have unique requirements, you may also have separate tools to meet each of their constraints (i.e. file formats, regulations, and more).
Centralize Your Business Processes
Most managed file transfer (MFT) solutions are robust enough to handle all aspects of file transfer. They are centralized software solutions that both carry out and provide insight into all aspects of your file transfers. MFT solutions can:
- Provide an efficient and secure method of file transfer to your external trading partners
- Make internal file transfers simple with an easy-to-use web client
- Connect to third-party applications to optimize data flow between disparate systems
- Send both ad-hoc and scheduled transfers; transfer frequency and file size are rarely limited
- Alert you to both successful and failed file transfers
- Limit user access via access roles
- Provide audit logs and ad-hoc or scheduled reports
More robust MFT solutions also offer high availability (HA) and clustering, collaboration tools, security tools to keep external users out of your servers when sharing data, and more.
MFT as iPaaS: Connecting Cloud and On-Prem Solutions
Because MFT tools are so flexible, they’re increasingly compared to iPaaS solutions (integration Platform as a Service), which automate data sharing processes by integrating your cloud and software solutions. Both MFT and iPaaS solve many IT-related problems surrounding data integration and transfer workflows, and their functionality is overlapping more every day.
By bringing each of these features into one centralized tool, MFT creates efficiencies throughout your business processes.
2. Improve Your Data Security
When you pull your processes out of multiple solutions and into one, you reduce your at-risk surface area.
Organizations use MFT to meet their inbound and outbound file transfer needs. It uses industry-standard file transfer protocols to secure files in transit and uses encryption standards (like Open PGP and AES) to protect data in transit and at rest. Plus, tools like automation and user access roles keep both files and people in the correct lanes.
Related Reading: Take Your Data Security One Step Further with MFT
Managed file transfer solutions like GoAnywhere offer a security foundation that, at minimum, keeps data secure and compliant with security standards across continents, including HIPAA, HITECH, PCI DSS, and the GDPR (plus GDPR spin-offs).
Compliance Considerations
GoAnywhere in particular has built-in tools that can help you meet location-based or industry compliance requirements. These include file transfer encryption, file transfer monitoring, detailed audit logs, and flexible options for sending files securely.
While no software can automatically make your organization compliant, solutions that prioritize data security by limiting user access, encrypting your data, and creating secure channels of communication help you meet the essential tenets of the vast majority of compliance requirements.
3. Use Agents to Duplicate Tasks Across Locations
Remote agents are lightweight tools that can provide real-time remote file transfer functionality across distinct systems. If your organization has multiple locations where you need to move and manipulate files securely, an agent can get the job done easily, without the need for separate FTP, FTPS, SFTP servers, or other traditional transfer methods.
"We needed a way to securely store and transmit PCI data. By utilizing GoAnywhere Agents, we were able to use a secure channel to transmit this data. We now no longer use standard protocols like SMB ... for file transfers, which protects our data from unwanted network scanning."
- Jay Wehner, Alliant Credit Union
Agents often help organizations with multiple locations (think various retail locations, branch offices, clinics, and more) successfully synchronize and duplicate file transfers. No more repetitive transfers: simply set up the jobs and watch as they’re put into place at each location.
Related Reading: Do You Need an MFT Agent?
4. Integrate File Movement Across Products
We already discussed how MFT compares to an iPaaS solution and how both of those solutions help to streamline your data exchanges, and GoAnywhere also integrates in two other arenas.
Cloud Integrations
GoAnywhere MFT’s cloud integrations, also known as Cloud Connectors, are application integrations built so you can link your MFT instance to popular cloud-based tools. These include popular web and cloud services like SharePoint, JIRA, Salesforce, Dropbox, and more.
Installing Cloud Connectors helps you to streamline and further consolidate your workflows using GoAnywhere. You can skip the manual drag-and-drop (or unsecure connections) by setting up automated workflows within GoAnywhere that moves files between applications based on your pre-set conditions.
Data Security
GoAnywhere is part of Fortra’ greater data security suite. File security expands beyond transfer and storage. Files go through multiple stages before they’re ready to be shared, either internally or externally. Discover new ways to understand the data within your organization (and who should have access), and learn how to keep it secure at all points – so only the appropriate information is making its way to other stakeholders.
If you choose to implement other Fortra solutions, you have the added benefit of complementary data security solutions that help you understand your data and keep it safe.
Related Reading: Why You Should Integrate Your DLP with MFT
5. Increase Reliability with Automated and Scheduled File Transfer
Automated file transfer software is often a tool that supports cybersecurity, compliance and encryption on IT teams. It can batch file transfers and take manual processes out of your hands, alert you to issues or failed transfers, and overall give you the oversight and peace of mind needed to keep essential tasks running.
Scheduled or automated file transfer benefits most organizations by offering reliability, both in that transfers run as scheduled and because you’re not relying on manual processes to move data from point A to point B. This, in turn, bolsters your file security: there are fewer opportunities for data breach if files aren’t moving hand-to-hand, and when you’re using a secure file transfer method.
